List of rail accidents (1890–1899)

This is a list of rail accidents from 1890 to 1899.

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1890

• March 21, 1890 – United Kingdom – An accident involving a South Eastern Railway train at St Johns, London killed three people.^[1]
• August 19, 1890 – United States – Quincy, Massachusetts: A jack used to level rails was left on the tracks. A passenger train then collided with it causing a derailment. Twenty-four people were killed due to the impact of the collision and through scalding.^[2]
• September 19, 1890 – United States – Shoemakersville, Berks County, Pennsylvania: Two coal trains on the Reading Railroad collided leaving debris on the adjacent passenger track. An approaching express passenger train derailed (engine, tender, baggage car, mail car, and three of the five passenger cars) into the Schuylkill River killing twenty-two people and injuring thirty.^[3]
• October 23, 1890 – United States – near Hinton, West Virginia, on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, the eastbound Fast Flying Virginian struck a rockslide on the tracks. This accident was immortalized by the ballad Engine One-Forty-Three.
• November 11, 1890 – United Kingdom – Norton Fitzwarren rail crash, England: A passenger train collided with a freight train that had been shunted onto the main line when the signalman forgot the line was obstructed. Ten people were killed and eleven seriously injured.
• November 28, 1890 – United Kingdom – On the North British Railway two trains, both headed by NBR D class 0-6-0 locomotives, crashed head-on on the Todd's Mill Viaduct; one locomotive plunged 60 feet (18 m) off the bridge.^[4]

1891

• March 8, 1891 – United Kingdom – A Great Western Railway passenger train was derailed by a snowdrift at Camborne, Cornwall.^[5]
• April 19, 1891 – United States – Kipton, Ohio, United States: A passenger train and a freight train collided just east of the Kipton depot killing eight. The accident was attributed to one of the engineers' watches having stopped and being four minutes behind.^[6] Webster Clay Ball, watch dealer and inspector of Cleveland, Ohio was later appointed as Watch Inspector for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad.
• May 1, 1891 – United Kingdom – Norwood Junction rail accident: A London Brighton and South Coast Railway passenger train derailed near Norwood Junction, London when a cast iron bridge collapsed.
• May 17, 1891 – United States – Greenvale, New York, United States: A horse's hoof caught in the switching apparatus at Greenvale (LIRR station) resulted in both the death of the horse and two crew members, as well as the destruction of the station house.^[7]
• June 14, 1891 – Switzerland – Munchenstein rail disaster - Münchenstein, Basel: An iron girder bridge collapsed as a crowded passenger train passed killing 71 and injuring 171.
• August 27, 1891 – United States – Statesville, North Carolina: A passenger train of the Western North Carolina Railroad derailed upon reaching a bridge, plunging to the creek below, killing 22 and injuring 26.^[8]
• August 31, 1891 – United Kingdom – A London, Chatham and Dover Railway empty stock train overran the buffers at Ramsgate Town station, Kent killing one.^[9]
• September 9, 1891 – United States – Oyster Bay, New York: A boiler explosion of a locomotive at Oyster Bay (LIRR station) resulted in the deaths of three crewmembers. The Long Island Railroad locomotive replaced the one that was involved in the wreck in Greenvale in May 1891.^[7]
• October 17, 1891 – United Kingdom – A Great Eastern Railway passenger train derailed at Lavenham, Suffolk.^[10]
• October 22, 1891 - Canada - Two Canadian Pacific Railway freight trains collided at a siding between Kemnay and Brandon, Manitoba. One train had extra cabooses containing passengers, several of whom were either killed or badly injured.^[11]
• December 4, 1891 – United States – Great East Thompson Train Wreck; East Thompson, Connecticut: Four trains collided on the New York and New England Railroad. Two freight trains collided due to sloppy dispatching, jack-knifing several cars. The Long Island & Eastern States Express passenger train then hit the wreckage, killing the engineer and fireman. Shortly thereafter, despite an attempt to flag it down, the Norwich Steamboat Express ran into the rear of the Eastern States Express, setting the last sleeper on fire as well as the locomotive cab. In all, only two passengers were killed; the body of one was never found.
• 1891 – United States – Delta, California: An elephant traveling on a Southern Pacific train removed a coupling pin from a car. The forward portion of the train traveled 20 miles (32 km) before the locomotive crew discovered the split.^[12]

1892

• February 22, 1892 – United Kingdom – A London, Brighton and South Coast Railway passenger train ran into a South Eastern Railway locomotive at Hastings, East Sussex. The passenger train overran a danger signal damaging both locomotives.^[13]

Esholt Junction crash. (June 9, 1892)

• June 9, 1892 – United Kingdom – Esholt Junction rail crash - A Midland Railway passenger train overran signals and collided with another at Esholt Junction, Yorkshire killing five and injuring thirty.
• July 29, 1892 - Canada - A Canadian Pacific Railway train stopped at Parkdale in Toronto to set off pre-determined rail cars from its train as instructed. While performing this task, the locomotive and some of the Parkdale-bound cars were struck by the remaining portion of its train which had rolled away from its parked position.^[14]
• November 2, 1892 – United Kingdom – Thirsk rail crash, Thirsk, Yorkshire, England: a distressed signalman forgot about a freight train standing outside his signal box. Eight people were killed and 39 injured.

1893

• January 18, 1893 – United States – Lonsdale, Rhode Island. Eight of 23 sleigh ride passengers were killed when a sleigh collided with a Providence & Worcester Railroad freight train. Several horses were killed. Six passengers died at the scene and two died at Rhode Island Hospital. The sleigh ride was coming to Cumberland after an evening excursion from North Attleboro, Massachusetts. The engine's operator told investigators that weather conditions were very cold that night and speculated thate the sleigh riders never heard the train whistle. Witnesses said because of a bend of the railroad, the passengers of the sleigh never saw what hit them.^[15]
• July 18, 1893 - United States - East Aurora, New York. A derailment involving a twelve car excursion train returning from a Lime Lake, New York summer picnic, by the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. Engine #124 landed on Engine #30.^[16]
• August 12, 1893 – United Kingdom – Llantrisant rail accident, 13 were killed when mechanical failure led to derailment.

1894

• August 9, 1894 – United States – 1894 Rock Island railroad wreck, Lincoln, Nebraska: Determined to be an act of sabotage. Eleven of 33 passengers died.^[17]
• October 4, 1894 – United Kingdom – A North Eastern Railway sleeping car express overrran signals and collided with the rear of a freight train at Castle Hills, Yorkshire. One person was killed.^[18]
• November 12, 1894 – United Kingdom – A Great Western Railway boat train was derailed in a flood at Yetminster, Dorset.^[19]
• December 22, 1894 – United Kingdom – Chelford rail accident: During shunting operations, strong winds blew a high-sided wagon into other wagons. The wagon derailed blocking the main line which was then struck by an oncoming express train, killing 14 passengers.
• December 22, 1894 – United Kingdom – A light engine collided with a South Eastern Railway passenger train at Purley, Surrey injuring six.^[1]

1895

• April 13, 1895 – United Kingdom – A Great Western Railway passenger train derailed between Doublebois and Bodmin Road. The cause was found to be damaged track caused by excessive speed of the previous train.^[20]

Train goes too far at Gare Montparnasse, Paris. (October 22, 1895)

• August 1, 1895, – United Kingdom – A London, Chatham and Dover Railway freight train collided with an excursion train at Herne Bay, Kent killing one. ^[9]
• October 22, 1895 – France – Montparnasse derailment — At Gare Montparnasse, Paris, France an express train overran a buffer stop due to the driver approaching the station too fast and a Westinghouse air brake failure. It crossed about 30 metres (98 ft) of concourse before plummeting through a window and crushing one person in a shop below. The locomotive remained outside the station for several days and attracted a number of photographers.
• December 22, 1895 – United Kingdom – A London and North Western Railway express passenger train collided with a freight wagon which had run away and fouled the main line. Fourteen people were killed and 79 were injured.^[21]

1896

• March 7, 1896 – United Kingdom – The last carriage of a Great Northern Railway passenger train derailed at Little Bytham, Lincolnshire, causing other carriages to derail. The cause was found to be the premature removal of a speed restriction. Two people were killed.^[22]
• Easter Monday, April 6, 1896 – United Kingdom – Llanberis, Wales: On the opening day of the Snowdon Mountain Railway, locomotive No. 1 Ladas ran away plummeted down a steep slope after it derailed. The engine was destroyed, but the driver and fireman were able to jump clear and the carriages were stopped by the guard. One passenger jumped off the moving train and fell beneath the wheels. He later died from his injuries. The line then closed for over a year before re-opening on April 19, 1897.
• May 26, 1896 – Canada – in Victoria, British Columbia, Point Ellice Bridge disaster: a passenger train with 143 passengers aboard crashed through Point Ellice Bridge into the Upper Harbour. Fifty-five were killed. A coroner’s jury concluded that the tramway operator, the Consolidated Electric Railway Company, was responsible because it allowed the streetcar to be loaded with a greater number of passengers than the bridge was designed to support.^[23]
• July 30, 1896 – United States – 1896 Atlantic City rail crash – two trains collided at a crossing just west of Atlantic City, New Jersey, crushing five loaded passenger coaches, killing 50 and seriously injuring around 60.
• August 3, 1896 – United Kingdom – A Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway passenger train collided with a West Lancashire Railway passenger train at Preston Junction, Lancashire due to the driver of the former misreading signals. One person was killed and seven were injured.^[24]
• August 15, 1896 – United Kingdom – A London and North Western Railway sleeping car express derailed at Preston, Lancashire due to excessive speed on a curve. One person was killed.^[25]
• August 29, 1896 – United Kingdom – The locomotive of a Charing Cross to Hastings train derailed near Etchingham, East Sussex when it collided with a traction engine and threshing machine using an occupation crossing.^[26]
• September 15, 1896 – United States – The Crash at Crush – Showman William George Crush convinced officials of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT, known as "the Katy"), to let him stage a colossal train wreck. The crowd was transported to the show site, near the town of West, Texas, producing much passenger revenue for the company. A one-day town is thrown up and named Crush, boasting a 2,100 foot (640 m) platform and tank cars supplying 100 faucets. Two six-car trains of obsolete rolling stock, pulled by dolled-up locomotives were let loose at each other over a 1 mile (1.6 km) course with spectacular result. When the wrecked engines' boilers exploded, flying shrapnel killed at least three of the 30,000 spectators (some sources estimate 40,000) and injured many more.
• December 4, 1896 – United States – A freight train consisting of Engine No. 155 and twenty-six cars of freight was running from Brattleboro, Vermont to New London, Connecticut. Just outside Eagleville, Connecticut the train became uncoupled between cars 10 and 11. As the crew in the back tried to stop the back part of the train, the crew in the locomotive increased speed to gain distance from the decoupled cars. The boiler exploded killing brakeman Warren Thomas, Engineer Otis Hall, and his brother, fireman Benjamin Hall.^[27]
• December 27, 1896 – United States – A passenger train, No. 41 of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad, plunged through a bridge 110 feet over the Cahaba River, east of West Blocton, Alabama, killing 22 or 23 of the 31 people on board, many burned beyond recognition.^[28][29]

1897

Garrison Train Wreck. (October 24, 1897)

• January 26, 1897 – Canada – The regular westbound CP express train between Halifax and Montreal, hauled by an ICR engine, came off the rails outside Dorchester, New Brunswick, loaded with six tons of freshly minted Canadian pennies from London. Two people were killed and 38 injured, including the Canadian Minister of the Militia, Frederick William Borden. It is known as "The Penny Wreck".^[30]
• May 1, 1897 – Russia – A military train derailed 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of Puka, Governorate of Livonia. 58 people were killed and 44 injured in the accident.^[31]
• June 11, 1897 – Denmark – Gentofte train crash, Denmark: An express train passed a signal at danger and collided with a stationary passenger train at Gentofte station. Forty were killed and more than 100 injured.
• June 11, 1897 – United Kingdom – Welshampton rail crash - eleven were killed when an excursion train derailed.

Heathfield derailment. (September 1, 1897)

• September 1, 1897 – United Kingdom – A passenger train derailed near Heathfield, East Sussex, killing the driver.^[32]
• October 24, 1897 – United States – Garrison train crash in Garrison, New York, the Sunday morning train No. 46, on the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, wrecked near King's Dock of the Hudson River division, about 1.75 miles (2.82 km) south of Garrison, New York. 19 were killed.^[33]
• November 4, 1897 - Canada - A Canadian Pacific Railway freight train collided with a parked CPR yard engine at the station at Havelock, Ontario resulting in three employees being injured, seven cars derailed, two locomotives severely damaged and the main track being blocked. Preliminary investigations suggested that the yard engine should not have been on the siding.^[34]

1898

• January 3, 1898 – United Kingdom – A North British Railway freight train derailed at Dunbar, Lothian when hit by an express passenger train which overran signals. One person was killed and 21 injured.^[35]
• January 29, 1898 – United States – A Maine Central Railroad train crashed near Orono. The accident killed six.
• 1898 (unknown exact date) – United States – A Tallulah Falls Railway train pulling a children's excursion derailed due to bad track. The locomotive and baggage car toppled from the track. The baggage car fell onto its side and the locomotive rolled to the bottom of the embankment, killing the engineer. No children were injured.

Damaged carriages in the siding next to St Johns Station. (March 21, 1898)

• March 21, 1898 – United Kingdom – St Johns train crash 1898: A South Eastern and Chatham Railway passenger train ran into the rear of another passenger train at St Johns, London due to a signalman's error. Three people were killed and twenty injured.^[35]
• September 2, 1898 – United Kingdom – A parcels trolley fell off the platform at Wellingborough, Northamptonshire and was hit by a Midland Railway express train, which derailed. Seven people were killed and 65 injured.^[36]
• 1898 – United States – The second major accident on the Tallulah Falls Railway occurred at the more than 100 feet (30 m) hit Panther Creek trestle, the highest trestle on the line. When a passenger train reached the highest section of the bridge, the supports gave way beneath it, causing the locomotive, tender, and first car to pitch into the ravine. The second coach remained on the still erect portion of the bridge, having stopped inches from the edge. One passenger was killed an no other injuries were reported.
• 1898 – United Kingdom – A mail train derailed near Penryn, Cornwall. The Great Western Railway 3521 Class locomotives frequently experience excessive oscillation when running at speed.^[37]

1899

• January 12, 1899 – United Kingdom – A London and North Western Railway express freight train derailed at Penmaenmawr, Caernarfonshire due to the formation being washed away in a storm. Both locomotive crew were killed.^[38]
• March 11, 1899 – New Zealand – Rakaia railway accident Two excursion trains returning from Ashburton to Christchurch collided when the second train rear-ended the first; four passengers were killed and 22 injured. The accident led to the fitting of air brakes to rolling stock and improved signalling.
• October 23, 1899 – United Kingdom – A Caledonian Railway express train collided with a cattle train at Cupar, Angus. One person was killed.^[39]
• December 23, 1899 – United Kingdom – A rear-end collision occurred at Wivelsfield, West Sussex.^[40]

See also

• London Underground accidents

References

Sources

• "Europe's history of rail disasters". BBC. October 11, 2006. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
• "World's worst rail disasters". BBC. December 19, 2007. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
• "GenDisasters Train Wrecks 1869–1943". Archived from the original on 2015-04-16.
• "Interstate Commerce Commission Investigations of Railroad Accidents 1911–1993". U.S. Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2004-10-12.
• Beebe, Lucius & Clegg, Charles (1952). Hear the train blow; a pictorial epic of America in the railroad age. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. ASIN B000I83FTC.
• Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-37-0.
• Earnshaw, Alan (1991). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 7. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-50-8.
• Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 8. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-52-4.
• Haine, Edgar A. (1993). Railroad Wrecks. New York: Cornwall Books. ISBN 978-0-8453-4844-4.
• Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0 7110 1929 0.
• Hoole, Ken (1982). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 3. Redruth: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-05-2.
• Hoole, Ken (1983). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 4. Truro: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-07-9.
• Karr, Ronald D. (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England – A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press. ISBN 978-0-942147-02-5.
• Kidner, R. W. (1977) [1963]. The South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Tarrant Hinton: The Oakwood Press.
• Leslie, Frank (1882-01-21). "Illustrated Newspaper". LIII (1, 374). New York: 1.
• Reed, Robert C. (1968). Train Wrecks – A Pictorial History of Accidents on the Main Line. New York: Bonanza Books. ISBN 978-0-517-32897-2.
• Rolt, L. T. C.; Kichenside, G. M. (1982). Red for Danger: A history of railway accidents and railway safety (4th ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8362-0. OCLC 9526651.
• Shaw, Robert B. (1978). A History of Railroad Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices. LCCN 78104064.
• Trevena, Arthur (1980). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 1. Redruth: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-01-X.
• Trevena, Arthur (1981). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 2. Redruth: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-03-6.

External links

• Pendleton, John (1896). Our Railways: Their Origin, Development, Incident and Romance, Chapter XL. Railway Disasters, 1840–1870. London: Cassell and Co., Ltd. External link in |title= (help)